shuck
/ʃʌk/
"shuck" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shuck” is uncommon English (frequency #61,812 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #61,812
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
Corpus desk
Index EN-shuck · shuck · English
shuck · rank #61,812 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #61,812
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 54,294
- PHOTO-FINISH Sidhu
Nearest frequency peer: Sidhu (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “shuck”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Shira
Shira
38,193 corpus weight
- Shota
Shota
38,191 corpus weight
- shuck
shuck
38,189 corpus weight
- Sidhu
Sidhu
38,188 corpus weight
- sigil
sigil
38,187 corpus weight
- silhouetted
silhouetted
38,186 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “shuck” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shuck |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ʃʌk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #61,812 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shuck” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
shuck is uncommon English at frequency #61,812 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ʃʌk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for shuck, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Origin unknown. Possibly a dialectal survival of unrecorded Middle English *schulk(e), *schullok (“small shell”); either from Old English *sċylluc, *sċylloc, diminutive of Old English sċyll (“shell”), or alternatively created in Middle English from Middle E… The correct English form is shuck, spelled S-H-U-C-K.
Definition
- 1The shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
- 2A fraud; a scam.
- 3A phony.
Etymology
Origin unknown. Possibly a dialectal survival of unrecorded Middle English *schulk(e), *schullok (“small shell”); either from Old English *sċylluc, *sċylloc, diminutive of Old English sċyll (“shell”), or alternatively created in Middle English from Middle English schulle, schelle (“shell, husk, pod”) + -ok, making it equivalent to shell + -ock (diminutive suffix) or shell + -k (diminutive suffix).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shuck", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.